The announcement is the closest Paul has come to conceding
defeat. But Paul's campaign chairman Jesse Benton insists that it
does not mean he is dropping out of the race.

"No, not at all," campaign manager Jesse Benton said, when we
asked if today's news meant the race was over. "We will focus all
of our resources on winning delegates and party leadership
positions."

In many ways, today's statement is merely the formal
acknowledgment of a strategy that has actually been in place for
several weeks. Paul and his advisors have known for some time
that it would be virtually impossible for the candidate to win
the nomination, and have focused the bulk of their efforts on
promoting Paul's movement at the local and state party
level.

"We've know this was coming for a long time," senior
campaign advisor Doug Wead said of today's announcement. "It was
a signal to the forces in the field — we have to concentrate our
resources and primaries would require huge amounts of time and
money."

According to Wead, the decision to stop competing in the
primaries was the result of a combination of factors, but was
"primarily driven" by the
surprising success of the campaign's delegate strategy, which
has netted Paul a disproportionate number of RNC delegates at
state conventions across the country.

"We are in the process of remaking the Republican Party —
and it has been more successful than we ever expected," Wead told
Business Insider. "It is truly a
movement."

But not everyone in Paul Land is down with the new program.
Crushed Paul fans flooded the Ron Paul blogosphere with reactions
that ranged from disgust to denial and disbelief that Paul would
ever betray his loyal army this way. Perhaps predictably, a few
media conspiracy theories are already starting to gain some
traction among Paul's online following.

The backlash underscores a tension between the Paul campaign and
its grassroots supporters that has been quietly simmering since
the Texas Congressman's 2008 presidential campaign. While it may
be hard for the uninitiated to believe, there is a cadre of Ron
Paul hardliners who still believe their man could be president,
and who have no aspirations about changing the party
Establishment.

"It is passionate, and it is heartbreaking to have to
deal with reality," Wead said. "And like all
political movements of this nature, there are different degrees
of commitment and passion."

Wead denies today's announcement signifies any lack of support
for Paul's grassroots activists, and rejects the idea that the
campaign has somehow 'lost control' of its supporters. Instead,
he said, the decision to stop campaigning in the primaries
signals that Paul's campaign has decided to put all of its
resources behind state-level party activists.

"There is nothing but admiration and love for the people in the
field," Wead told BI. "They have stuck it out and they are
winning."

UPDATE:

On a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning, Paul's
political director Jesse Benton said that the potential
disappointment among Paul's supporters "weighed very heavily" on
the candidate.

“I hope by being so open and laying out our strategy, we hope
that that keeps our supporters from feeling abandoned,” he
said.

But he also said that the campaign does not have high
expectations for its May 17 moneybomb fundraiser.